Pumpkins and Candles
by Pumpkin Bumpkin
Summary: Roman is stuck in a prison cell under Ironwood's watch. He has big plans, but he might be interrupted by others strange plans for him. (Friendship between Roman and Penny)(Takes place right after ending of Season 2)
1. Chapter 1

Roman smirked in his small cell. It had been a day since his 'arrest' and so far everything was going to plan. As he gazed out of the small hole in his cell a familiar orange haired girl passed by. A certain girl who had blown up several of his ships and had caused him a major scolding from cinder. Not to mention Emerald and Mercury mentioning it, and making fun of him for it, every chance they had. 'Oh Roman letting yourself get beat up by teenage girls again I see' 'yeah Roman, that's pretty pervy'. He really hated those kids.

"Hey, destructo-girl, nice to see you again" cooed Roman with a pleasant voice from inside his box. "But, if I may ask, what are you doing in Ironwoods fortress?" The sight of this powerful girl was a little confusing; didn't she have school or something?  
>Penny stopped and turned towards the noise. "Mister Ironwood said I wasn't supposed to talk to criminal scum like you" chimed penny, curiously looking at the small box like cell.<p>

"Well that's a little rude. Scum? That's quite a low blow." Tutted Roman, shaking his head. He had been called worse of course, but hearing this little girl so innocently saying these insults was a little off-putting.

"My apologies, that is the phrasing Mister Ironwood used. Is there something you would prefer me to call you?" Inquired Penny, tilting her head while taking a step towards the box.

"I do have a name pumpkin-head, and it's Roman Torchwick. Speaking of names I don't quite know yours either girlie." Roman said.

"Oh, pardon my manners, I am new at talking to people. My name is Penny." Penny awkwardly stood for a second. "My books on this told me I should shake your hand at this time, but I do not think that is currently possible." Penny said flatly. Roman chuckled and simply stated that no, that wasn't possible, nor probably recommended at this moment by Ironwood.

They stayed in silence for a second until Roman coughed and started to speak. "Well you're surprisingly friendly to a man who shot at your friends..." It was quite strange to Roman that this girl, who had been attacking him before, was now so polite to him. Most people Roman 'interacted' with had a tendency to want to punch him, not have a pleasant introduction with him.

Penny blinked. "You're surprisingly friendly to a girl who blew up your ships..." Roman laughed. "I guess that's true Penny, I guess that's true..." Suddenly footsteps echoed down the hallway as one of the guards patrolling the establishment started down the hallway with Roman's prison.

Penny waved at Torchwick saying goodbye with a simple "See you later Mr. Torchwick!", and as she turned and left Roman waved back.

"See you later Penny." Again Roman was left with only his thoughts as company, as the light girl's footsteps faded from the air.


	2. Chapter 2

Roman sighed. This cell was quite boring, and he was beginning to get a bit desperate for some sort of entertainment. Roman had last talked to Penny two days ago, and no one had said a word to him since. Normally this was a preferable situation to Roman, but when your day consists of sitting in a dark box all day, with only the sounds of footsteps every half hour as the guards did their rounds to keep you company, things got a little dull. Sure he got food 3 times a day, but it was bland tasteless stuff that tasted the same way coming in that it probably tasted coming out. Two weeks it had been like this, with Penny's one visit being the only time he had done anything remotely interesting. Roman wished he could have a smoke, but alas, with his hat had also gone his lighter and cigars. So along with this intense boredom, he had to deal with nicotine addiction withdrawal. Neo couldn't come and give him some, he had told her before he got 'arrested' that she was not to visit him, for it would prove too dangerous. He yawned. Maybe he would take a nap. From down the hallway there was the slight clank of the armored guards doing their rounds. Roman shifted on the hard metal bench, closing his eyes and trying to get comfy, when a loud metal knock on the door forced his eyes back open.

"Prisoner, your presence is required in 's office, please put your arms behind your back and turn around so we may handcuff you." instructed the guard in a monotone voice.

"Ouu, so polite here, makes me feel like I'm almost in a castle." Snarked Roman, doing as instructed. It was finally time for his interrogation. This was going to be was roughly handcuffed and led away through the hallways. He started working out a mental map of the area, for he hadn't had time to study the building blueprints yet due to the plan happening a little earlier than expected.

"Nice grip you got there blue, you must be real strong" he flirted with the guard while turning his head and winking, That would set him on edge. He was probably used to quiet, or enraged criminals. A flirty one however, who knew how to deal with that. The blue guard however increased his grip, and increased his pace a little, shoving Roman forward. "Wow even more athletic than I thought, thanks for showing off for me blue" Roman sweetly said as they reached Ironwoods office.

"Roman, I know you have been stuck alone in a box for a while, but my guards aren't that desperate." Stated Ironwood, not looking up from the papers that covered his desk.

"Can't blame for trying, James" Roman said, sitting down on the chair pulled out for him, leaning back and crossing his legs. "It could still work out for me". Roman winked at the guard that had taken place in the corner of the room. The guard looked rather uncomfortable. Roman chuckled. "By the way James, that grey in your hair is hardly noticeable, you still look great."

"Please do not refer to me so informally, Torchwick." Ironwood protested, giving Roman a hard look.

"Lighten up a bit before your hair greys even more, stress causes greys you know" Torchwick retorted.

"Ahem, if we could move on from this pointless bickering, we do have important matters to discuss." Commented a green clad man who was walking back from the coffee machine in Ironwood's office.

"Hey there Ozzy! Sorry, the grey in your hair is pretty noticeable, you must be pretty stressed, I've been told I give great massages if you need one Ozzy." Roman flirted. Ozpin rolled his eyes.

"Please stop these mind games Roman. We will not hesitate to throw you back into that box if you don't play nice." Roman didn't speak again. He did want to see where this was going, and he was bored out of his mind in that box. "Now that we have that out of the way, if you don't mind Ironwood, let's get down to business." Ironwood waved his hand as a show of affirmation.

"Roman, we brought you here because we need your help." Roman arched an eyebrow. They must have really low on resources. "We need you to help us to track down, and take down, a small crime organization that goes by the name of the name of The Blackwater Gang." Roman knew them. They were absolute amateurs.

"I know of them, they got a base down by the docks, badly guarded, awful work really. Hired their men once, they ruined the whole operation, barely got out alive on that one." Roman smirked remembering that job, it was fun watching the faces of the the men as they realized he was leaving them behind. Ozpin smiled and nudged Ironwood with his elbow.

"See, I told you he could be useful!" Ozpin whispered.

"That has yet to be seen" Ironwood replied, folding his hands on his desk. Ironwood showed

Roman a file labeled 'Blackwater Gang'. "We would like you to fill in any gaps we have in this information, and tell us any more things that could help us take this organization down." Ironwood stated, passing the folder off to the guard behind Roman.

"And why would I want to do any of this? Even if I did help, who can tell if anything I put is real?" Roman asked, his signature smirk on his face. Ozpin set some objects on Ironwood's desk. Roman looked down to them, to see his cigars and custom lighter.

"And we may consider giving some more of your accessories back if you continue to help in our endeavors, but only if these little missions of ours go smoothly." Said Ozpin. Roman really wanted a smoke, nicotine withdrawal had been hitting him hard. He also missed his hat and eyeliner. He had been forced to wash in his first shower there because it was starting to wear off, and had made him look mentally ill, not intimidating and fabulous. So not only would he be doing something entertaining, and be getting his precious things he had gone throughout his jail time, he would also be gaining their trust, and get to snoop around their plans. This would work out just fine.

"Okay, I'll bite. So what do you say, I get some cigars now and the rest after they're taken down? The smoke helps me think. And then I want my hat back after you take them down."

"We will have the file, some cigars, and your lighter deposited later to your cell. If things go smoothly, we might consider giving back your hat. I'm glad we came this agreement. Do not disappoint us Torchwick." Ozpin said, taking a sip of his coffee. Torchwick simply gave his signature smirk, and was escorted off by the guard back to his cell. He would be glad to take that group of Wanna-be gangsters down, they deserved it for their years and years of sloppy work. He might actually enjoy this job.


	3. Chapter 3

In the soft gloom of his cell, Roman looked over the folder again, seeing all of the scribbled notes in the sidelines. Ironwood hadn't come by to pick up the folder, so he was using the extra paper in the folder to make an infiltration plan. It hadn't been specifically asked of him, but his instincts of making these sorts of plans had kicked in. He knew quite a lot about this gang. He knew quite a lot about every gang in Vale, and even some in Atlas and the other kingdoms. It was his job to know, especially if he was going to be working with these groups, he needed to know what the strengths and weaknesses of the gangs were, what they were best at, and if they crossed him, how best to make them pay. This was one of the lesser gangs of Vale, but they had been stirring up some trouble, being so unskilled that they were caught in the act often. Roman chewed on the end of the pencil as he thought, trying to remember the blueprints and layout of the building. He started sketching, the scritching sound of the pencil sounding eerily loud in the quiet cell. The warehouse was slowly created on the paper, the doors, windows, and other ways of entering being circled. he started to draw a complex set of arrows on the warehouse and the small amount of street he had drawn around it. "Well, if we have 3 teams of 4 hitting here, here, and here" He mumbled to himself, marking the spots on the paper. "Nah, that wouldn't work, because we got that there." He marked another spot on the paper, and erased some other marks. He began chewing on the pencil again. The soft sound of footsteps echoed through the hall, making Torchwick grimace as he remembered where he was. This scheming was so normal to him, he had almost forgotten where he was. He rubbed his brow, and wished his smoke break was sooner. They hadn't trusted him alone with fire, so instead he got designated times to smoke under heavy surveillance, which sort of defeated the calming purpose of smoking for him, still, the effects of nicotine withdrawal were not as harsh. He looked back to the folder, set the pencil down, and began to scribble.

Roman rubbed his eyes. How long has he been awake? The answer was obviously too damn long. He was used to being awake for long periods of time, but he had been spoiled with the large amount of sleeping time he had been given after having nothing to do all day. He set down the folder and pencil, satisfied that he had all the information and plans needed down, and lay down. He could always write more about other gangs tomorrow. He quickly fell asleep, and when he awoke, the papers were gone.

The sound of rasping of metal gloves on a metal door woke Roman from his slumber. "eugh" whispered Roman under his breath. "So, does Ironwood want to chat, or are you taking me out for coffee blue?"

"Please refrain from talking, I have been given orders to incapacitate you if necessary." The guard said in a flat voice

"That's rather rude blue, I..." Roman started to say something rather lewd, but the guard raised the back of his gun. "Ehm... I am going to refrain from talking." Roman hated being knocked out, and he still vividly remembering when kitty cat had kicked him in the head. That had hurt for a while. The rest of the trip to Ironwood's office was made in silence, and when they reached Ironwood's door, Ironwood asked

"He give you any trouble Kevin?"

"No sir, he is as much as a coward as you said he would be." replied Kevin.

"Hey what, I thought we had something special Kevin, and I'm not a coward, I just don't like being knocked out." Roman retorted, pouting a little.

"Yeah I guess every since that little girl knocked you out you would be a little sore on that subject." Ironwood said smiling.

"I'll have you know I hadn't slept in 32 hours that day." Torchwick replied, a little bit a frustrated anger showing in his voice.

"Whatever Torchwick, now if you wouldn't mind looking at this folder….What is this?" Ironwood asked, pointing at the roughly scratched infiltration plans.

"It's an infiltration plan." Roman quickly said, glancing at the folder, still a little upset.

"Well one, I cannot read any of this nonsense." Said Ironwood, gesturing to the scribbled words. "And two, why did you make us this, we have designated teams of infiltration tacticians you know."

"Bored." Roman briefly explained, pouting in his chair. "And there is no tactician here that can infiltrate that gang better than me." Roman stuck his nose up slightly at this statement.

"Hmmmmm…..Is that so? Well how bout you explain to me what all of this means, and we can see." Ironwood said, pushing the folder towards Roman. Roman sighed, this was going to be a long day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Hello everyone, be wary of head cannon territory at the end of this chapter. Also thank you for all of the follows, favorites, and reviews Although more of any of these things would be appreciated :D Sorry for the long break from updating, but I hope the longer chapter makes up for it.**

* * *

><p>The meeting with Ironwood had gone pretty well after Roman had rewrote the plans in the Atlas strategist standard. He had been writing the plans for only himself to understand for so long, he had forgotten that other people couldn't understand Roman's complex system of scribbles. Ironwood hasn't confirmed that he was even going to use the plan, but he had been thoughtful when Roman had left. Roman was pretty sure that no other tactician could come close in skill to his sort of plans. He didn't know anything about battlefield tactics, but in breaking and entering tactics, no one had more experience than him. A soft falling of footsteps shook him away from his thoughts, and soon the footsteps stopped outside of his cell.<p>

"Salutations, !" A enthusiastic voice whispered. "I got you a present!" With these words a small round object fell through the small slit in the door, dropping into Roman's hands. It had chocolate chips in it. "My good friend ruby is quite fond of cookies, and I thought with all the boring criminal food you eat, this would be a nice gift." Penny explained softly.

"Well, thanks Penny." Roman stuttered out, a little perplexed at this sudden act of kindness. "But why?"

"Well, friends give each other gifts right? And I know that my friend likes cookies... So my other friend might like cookies too!" Penny whispered. Roman reflected on the odd logic this girl used.

"We've only talked one time Penny..." Roman said staring at the cookie. It was still warm.

"My apologies, was this an inappropriate gift?" Penny asked.

"No... No it's nice Penny. Thank you." Romans sputtered out. What a strange girl.

"You are very welcome ! Also, I was wondering why Kevin has been avoiding shifts that go by this hallway. Does it smell bad here?" Penny asked innocently. Roman chuckled a bit.

"No idea Penny. No idea." He said with a sly smile.

"Hmmm... Maybe I will ask him about it. Well, I will see you later !" Penny chirped from outside the cell.

"Bye Penny." Roman said with a tinge of sadness as the strange girl walked quickly away, most likely going to hunt down the blue guard. Roman looked down at the warm cookie in his hand, and took a bite. It was pretty good. Wait. Why did she call him her friend?

* * *

><p>The loud knock on the door to his cell once again awoke Roman from a nap. "Blerg" Roman mumbled to himself.<p>

" would like to see you." The guard started to say more, but he was cut short by the prisoner.

"Yeah yeah I know the drill" Roman said with disinterest. He quickly did the motions that had by now become routine. "Where ya been blue, I've missed you. You should really visit more often Kevin." Roman gave a little pouty face to the guard while he was cuffed.

"I will not hesitate to hurt you criminal." Kevin briskly answered.

"You've already wounded me emotionally blue." Roman said winking at the guard. He got a smack on the head for this. "Ow, what was that for?!" Complained Roman.

"Consider that your warning shot, now shut up." Instructed the guard while ago in Roman forward. Roman grumbled, but obliged with the guards wishes. When they at last reached Ironwood's office the guard shoved him through the door, and pushed him roughly into the chair.

"Blue, you don't have to cover up your affection for me with this much of an act." Roman said slyly. He got another smack on the head from the guard. "Ow." Roman said, wishing he could rub his head. Ironwood said nothing about this, choosing instead to have his head buried in the complex documents of the Blackwater Gang. Ospin was standing behind him.

"Hello there Torchwick. We're going to do intact a rather unorthodox plan soon, and it involves you." Ospin said, taking a sip of his coffee. Torchwick raised an eyebrow. "We have decided to use the plan you gave to us, with a few changes of course, but we noticed that your plan required someone of a criminals skillset, and strangely, we do not have anyone with these...talents.. In our payroll. The only person we have any interaction with, that is in possession of this skillset, and who has a high enough skill in these practices, is you. Therefore, with a large amount of disagreement from James here." At this statement Ozpin nudged Ironwood with his elbow. "We have decided to use you in this mission, with precautions of course."

Roman raised both eyebrows at this. What the hell were they thinking. Ozpin began to speak again. "This is an ankle bracelet, it will track where you are at all times, and will start to emit large beeping noises if you we set it to remotely. It also may have a few more... shocking surprises up its sleeve." Roman inwardly sighed, hoping these surprises wouldn't be 'accidentally' set off, or 'tested' when he was wearing it.

He was still a little in shock from these statements, he never expected them to even trust his plan enough to use it, and using him to enact it, what had gotten into their brains? Ozpin placed Roman's hat back onto Roman's head. "We may consider replenishing your supply of cigars, and maybe some other things if you do this. Also I bet you're dying to get back into the field." Ozpin had spoken the truth. Roman was so bored in that cell, and missed the rush of action a bit.

"I'm going to need my cane back if you expect me not to die out there." Roman said.

"We will deactivate your weapon, but you will be allowed to carry it without ammo into the mission under close watch." Replied Ironwood. "We will have lots of armed guards following you, including Kevin there, so make sure you don't try anything." Ironwood narrowed his gaze at Roman, obviously not trusting him, and looking rather unhappy with Ozpin's plans.

"Hmmmm, although I fear Kevin may steal me away to go elope and get married, I think I could help you on this mission." Roman teased, getting another smack on the head from Kevin. "Ow! Could you stop that?" Roman angrily said.

"Could you stop with the remarks." The guard snarkily replied. Roman stuck his tongue out at him. Ironwood sighed.

"Ahem, so we will need to brief you on the mission, make sure you know exactly what to do, and we will invade the Blackwater gang's hideout tomorrow." Ozpin interrupted, laying the battle plan facing Roman on the desk.

"Alright." Roman responded, Scooting his chair forward. "But I'm going to need a few tools..."

* * *

><p>The night was a quiet and clear one, unlike the muddled thoughts of Roman. He was about to take down the blackwater gang. One of the top people in the criminal underground was about to take down a criminal organization. He was not only helping the cops, which was heavily against his warped moral compass, but he was risking his reputation as a bad guy. If this plan messed up at all, or if anyone saw him or found out, his career would be dead. He sighed. 'Better make sure this goes perfectly then.' He thought to himself. At least there was no Red to mess up his plans this time.<p>

Roman was in a bullhead, with Ironwood, Kevin, and a few other guards. The aircraft was being loaded at the time, so more people and things were getting on. Romans hands were currently bound, but he was promised that when they got to the warehouse, he would have full use of his hands, so he might use his talents for the mission. At least this mission would push forward his personal mission that he was put into jail for. They would begin to trust him. As he was contemplating this, a familiar orange haired girl walked on the ship. What was Penny doing here?

Ironwood gestured to Penny to come sit near him. "As you probably know Penny, this man you see before you is the master criminal Roman Torchwick." Ironwood said, pointing at Roman.

"Oh you're too kind Ironwood." Replied Roman snarkily.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Penny chirped cheerfully. Penny then let out a small hiccup. Roman could see where she was going with this.

"Hey, weren't you that girl that ruined my operation at the docks?!" Roman angrily replied. "You caused me a lot of trouble missy." Roman continued with the ploy.

"Now now, calm down there Roman, you are going to need to work with Penny and the rest of us for this mission." Ozpin responded to Romans angry words as he stepped into the bullhead. Roman merely grumbled to himself, and soon, the bullhead took off.

* * *

><p>They landed a bit away from the warehouse that housed the gang. Everyone was unloaded from the bullhead, and Roman was uncuffed. One of the guards handed him some thieves tools, which included lock picks and other such things. The small party stealthy walked near to the warehouse, and hid behind a large building. The first part of the plan relied entirely on Roman.<p>

As Ironwood watched from the corner of the building, he noticed how good of a thief Roman really was. Even with his bright white coat, and bright orange hair, he seemed to blend in with the shadows of the night. If Ironwood hadn't known Roman was there, he probably wouldn't have noticed him.

Roman was rather proud of himself as he slunk around in the shadows. He was rather rusty at this he had to admit, but he was doing pretty well considering the amount of time it had been since he last did real thieving. Old habits die hard he guessed.

When he at last reached the warehouse, he went towards his first target, the locked door. He took out his tools and got to work. These were really awful locks. It would probably only take him 5 minutes. After fiddling with it for awhile, he finally got it unlocked. Now to move on to the other locks for the other doors, and then climb up to make sure the windows on top could be opened. He quickly walked around the rest of the warehouse, and was once again very glad they had this man in their custody, for he was quite an excellent thief, and he could imagine the amount of chaos this man could bring if left unchecked.

Now Roman made his way to the roof. The rusty ladders and rotting scaffolding made the task of climbing difficult, but he had worked with worse conditions. He grabbed this, and pushed that, trying to ignore the disgusting shape the outside of the building was in. Knowing the common thug type, he expected it was the same, if not worse, conditions on the checked the windows on top, seeing that they were not locked from the inside or outside, and could be easily pried open. He peeked in the window, but the glass was so fogged and smeared by dead bugs and dust, it was impossible to see through it.

He quickly scaled his was down, and crouched by the side of the building. He gave the signal to Ironwood to show that the plan was so far successful, and everything was ready to go. Ironwood signed back a confirmation signal, and his men started to get in position. Roman creeped his way to the front of the building. He was going to be on guard duty, making sure no one got out of the building, and Kevin was going to also be on guard duty, making sure Roman didn't get out of Vale.

Everyone was in place, and the warehouse was then quickly, quietly, and efficiently sieged. Suddenly you could hear shouting, shots of gunfire, and lots of loud thuds. Roman was very glad he wasn't in there. Normally his job forced him to, so he could make everything go smoothly, but it was nice to just let things handle themselves for once. He guessed that was what it was like if you had competent underlings.

"Sooo... Kevin, you missing all the action that's going on inside?" Roman asked his guard, trying to distract himself from the ruckus behind him. Kevin remained stone faced. After a moment, Roman replied "yeah, me neither." Just then the doors flew open, a thug apparently being thrown against it. Kevin was knocked down and out by the rocketing man, and Roman barely avoided this fate. He was knocked to the floor however, and his cane flew from his grasp.

The man oriented himself, and Roman quickly recognized him as the leader of the Blackwater Gang. "Roman? You're working for the cops?" The man who had just barreled the door said in surprise after regaining wits, or what little he had of them. The man stepped on Roman's chest, preventing him from running or retrieving his weapon, reminding Roman of a recent similar situation, however he feared this would most likely end up worse. Roman nervously chuckled, not really much could get him out of this.

"Cmon, we can strike a deal, I was just stopping by to get some men when all this happened, me and you, we can get out, maybe get your men back later." Roman attempted at a sweet talk.

"You left me and my men to die Roman. There were cops everywhere, it's a miracle we made it out alive, and now this?! Now you betray the entire underground! Thankfully, this will be your last betrayal Roman." Said the leader of the Blackwater gang, cocking his gun, and pointing it at Roman's head. "Say goodbye Ro-" the thug started, but he was cut short by the hilt of a sword flying into the back of his skull, causing him to collapse partially on Roman.

"Thank Oum." Roman whispered to himself, shoving off the body to look at his savior.

"Are you okay . My apologies for losing track of this man temporarily, were you two friends? You seemed to be talking to eachother." Penny chirped to Roman concerned, pulling back her blade from the man.

"I wouldn't say we were friends Penny, honestly if you see me with anyone they probably aren't my friend." Roman said, pulling himself up from the ground.

"What if I see you and me in a mirror? Would that be different then?" Penny asked. Roman opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Ironwood walking outside.

"Good work Penny, that should be the last of them. Alright everyone, back to the bullheads, take the prisoners or any criminal evidence with you." Ironwood said, walking out with Ozpin close behind him. Ozpin stopped at Roman, and quickly told Roman

"We can't have you dying on us next time Roman, and if Penny hadn't stepped in when she did, thats what would have happened this time. We are going to have a serious talk about your poor self defence when we get back." Roman simply nodded to Ozpin. He guessed he had seen him through the large new hole in the door. Maybe this talk would mean he could get out of his box to train more now. Ozpin then walked off to the bullhead, twirling the cane in his hand.

"I will see you later ." Penny whispered to Roman, picking up Kevin from the ground, and carrying him to the bullheads. Roman followed the train of people and prisoners, amazed at how the small girl could pick up such a large armored man. It looked rather strange. He sighed to himself, silently questioning his decision to go on this odd mission, and questioning why he enjoyed this so damn much.

* * *

><p>Roman sat again at the all too familiar office of Ironwood, however this time he was not cuffed, and Kevin the guard was not behind him. Only him and Ozpin were in the room. Ozpin was silently looking at him while taking sips of his coffee. "What are we going to do with you Roman. What are we going to do." Ozpin furrowed his brow. "Wait a second, is your Aura not unlocked, we could definitely use that to help make sure you don't die, just give me a second." Ozpin reached out his hand, touched Romans chest, and started to unlock his aura.<p>

"Wait! No!" Roman quickly shouted, but it was too late, his aura was unlocked. Ozpin was distracted though with Roman's hat, which had suddenly popped off his head and started falling down. Romans hands flew to his head as Ozpin reached down to grab Romans hat from off the floor with a quizzical look.

"Now why would your hat do that" Ozpin asked while raising the hat off the floor, and when he stood up, he was met with a very distressed looking Torchwick, who was desperately trying to fold down a large pair of fuzzy, brown donkey ears on his head. Roman snatched the hat from the stunned Ozpin, shoving it roughly over his ears and onto his head. "Wha...you're a Faunus?" Ozpin said quite shocked, turning his head down from where Romans ears had been, down to his face.

"Shhhhh, not so loud!" Roman whispered to Ozpin urgently.

"But, but I've seen you without a hat before. You've never had ears!" Ozpin said dumbfounded. Roman sighed.

"Okay, let me explain, so all... Faunus.." He hesitated on this word, saying it with disgust. "have their auraus partially, if not wholly opened at birth, do the outward expressions of aura that are their ears, tusks, tail, whatever. This grants the ability to see in the dark, use their extra animal part, and other things like that. However, after researching, I found that if you seal an aura completely, which is quite hard to do you know" He said this part ratherly spitefully. "it is possible to seal away the.. Ahem... Faunus.. Part of you as well. So after a long time of research and preparation and did so, and now you ruined all of that Ozpin, so thanks." Roman ended his tirade, looking uncomfortable, and very pissed.

Ozpin simply stared at Roman. "So why still wear the hat?" he simply asked.

"Old habits" Roman grumbled back.

"Why hide it?" Ozpin questioned.

"Why would anyone else." Roman replied. There was a silence, finally at the end being broken by Roman "And I'm afraid my aura probably won't be enough to prevent me from dying, if I go out into the field again, I'm going to need to call someone in. Someone rather illegal, but I have a feeling she will be hard to take into custody."

"I will consult Ironwood about your proposition." Ozpin replied.

Ozpin waved Roman to the door, and walked him back to his cell in silent thought. Roman, now back safely in his cell with his hat securely on, had time to think. He guessed this would mean his semblance would work soon. That was probably going to be useful.


End file.
